Joel Schumacher, director of films including two entries in the 1990s Batman Franchise, St. Elmo’s Fire’ The Lost Boys and Falling Down has died, aged 80.

The director died in New York City on Monday (June 22) following a year-long battle with cancer, a spokesperson has confirmed. “He will be fondly remembered by his friends and collaborators,” they said.

before going into film, Schumacher worked in the fashion industry, then working in TV as a costume designer while he studied. He made his directorial debut with Virigina Hill, a made-for-TV movie, in 1974.

Making his feature film directorial debut with The Incredible Shrinking Woman in 1981, Shuchmacher found fame with two successive box office hits, St. Elmo’s Fire and The Lost Boys, and in 1990 directed hit sci-fi horror Flatliners.

In the 1990s he also directed two adaptations of John Grisham novels, 1994’s The Client and 1996’s A Time To Kill.

In 1995, he took over the Batman franchise from previous director Tim Burton to helm Batman Forever, starring Val Kilmer and Jim Carrey. It was followed by Batman & Robin in 1997, which was universally panned.

After the Batman franchise ended, Schumacher moved into darker and lower-budget films such as 8mm starring Nicholas Cage, and Flawless starring Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

His final feature film was the 2011 crime thriller Trespass, while in 2013 he directed two episodes in the first series of Netflix series House Of Cards.